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[The Headliner]

Codemasters to bring back Dizzy

One of the most beloved Britsoft icons of the '80s looks like he's about to return, with Codemasters teasing a comeback for the Yolkfolk after almost 20 years in the wilderness.



Younger gamers are going to have no idea what we're talking about here but believe it or not a boxing glove-wearing anthropomorphic egg used to be one of the most popular video game mascots in British gaming.

Although created by the Oliver Twins the games were published by Codemasters between 1986 and 1993. There's never been any agreement between the two companies on how to bring Dizzy back but the website www.eggcitingnews.com really doesn't look like a teaser for DiRT 4.

Unfortunately that image is all we've got to go on at the moment, apart from the following eggscruciating pun from the Twitter account of Codemasters communication manager Rich Eddy: 'Time for a fresh eggventure'.

He also talks about 'egg-breaking news' tomorrow, which isn't even a proper pun and almost makes us wish Dizzy wasn't coming back after all.

But then we got the following ditty from Codemasters' PR company and it made us happy again:

In days of old when games were sold,
not on console but on tape,
there was a Prince,
not seen since,
who wore boxing gloves not a cape.

The majority of the Dizzy games were 2D platformers but with an unusual focus on graphic adventure style puzzles rather than straight up action. This is presumably the form any new game will take although whether it'll be a retail game, a download or a smartphone game is currently unknown.

We'd imagine it's more likely to be a download though, rather than the big budget risk that anything more high tech would entail.

Possibly the best news I've read all year, so long as it's not a poxy smartphone game. I always loved playing Treasure Island Dizzy on my cousins' Amiga (check out the awesome backing track below), and had Fantastic Dizzy on my Master System. He was a British videogaming institution but probably won't be too familiar overseas, so I doubt he'll get a full retain release unfortunately. I'll definitely put my hand in my pocket for a new download though. Very excited.

[The Headliner]

Dizzy Prince Of The Yolkfolk is smartphone remake

Possibly the worst news I've read all year.

Full frustrating story

Edit: Thinking about it more, hopefully this is just step one and a port to the 3DS eStore will follow after they've tested the waters. And the hype video is pretty cool:

[Illusion]

I think you might be showing your age, I've never heard of Dizzy ever.

[The Headliner]

I'm not showing my age, YOU'RE showing YOURS.

[The Headliner]

Edumacation time, Illy:

Dizzy Prince Of The Yolkfolk review - egg-shell-ent



If you ask the average gamer to name a British video game, you’ll likely to get a slightly puzzled look. Perhaps, after a bit of brow-creasing, you might receive a hesitant sounding answer of Tomb Raider - even though that's now made by an American company. Despite British developers making some of the most successful video games of the modern era - including Grand Theft Auto - you'd never actually guess their country of origin just from playing them.

It didn't used to be that way though. Ignoring any rose-tinted arguments about whether games back then where better, worse or more peanut butter flavoured the inarguable statement can be made that they were certainly more British. Monty Mole, Head Over Heels, Jet Set Willy, Skool Daze, Jack The Nipper – one brief glance at any of these games made their country of origin as obvious as if you’d stamped a picture of the Queen on them.

If you've never heard of any of these games before it's probably because you were too young, but it's also because they're never given a retro update. Every third rate Japanese arcade game or American-made shooter seems to get remade and re-released multiple times but because, generally speaking, nobody outside of the UK has heard of these games the money's not there to justify a revamp. Enter stage left Dizzy Prince Of The Yolkfolk pursued by a smartphone.

Originally released in 1991 on both 8-bit and 16-bit computers Prince Of The Yolkfolk is actually the sixth entry in the series, but by many fan's estimations the best. It follows the same formula as the other games, with a mix of 2D platforming and graphic adventure style puzzles, but manages to focus it all into a much less sprawling, less obscure quest.

Specially based on the Amiga version this is essentially a HD remake, with broadly the same puzzles and screen layouts. Naturally the graphics are better but importantly they also closely match the style and tone of the original, which is no surprise as the original game's project director also oversaw this new version.

The art style is unashamedly cute but the text dialogue is full of a very British style of sarcasm, as the various characters - including trolls, lions and even Death himself - enjoy the game's silly antics in the same wry manner as the player themselves.

In gameplay terms Dizzy was always an odd mixture and the 2D platforming was to be honest never very accomplished. Being an egg (with boxing gloves) Dizzy jumps with an odd forward roll that takes a lot of getting used to, especially with touchscreen controls.

Since there's little penalty for death though it's not really a problem and the main obstacle to progression is instead the puzzles. Rather than the lever-pushing problems common to most modern platformers the Dizzy games have much more in common with the then contemporary LucasArts style graphic adventures.

So, for example, you're initially trapped behind a water-logged locked door with only a match, a pile of leaves and a bucket of water. To escape you have to pile the leaves up by the door, light them and then when the door burns down put the fire out with the water. Later examples are naturally more complex and more obscure, but it's really not a mix of genre that's comparable to any other game.

The logic behind some of the puzzles is, to be honest, somewhat strained but one of the game's main concessions to the modern era is a series of hint stars. Once you pick one up you then have 60 seconds to find another before a hint is automatically given. It's an unusual and clever system that not only helps avoid frustration but also makes speed runs a lot more fun.

It may not be a classic on par with international equivalents such as Super Mario Bros. or Pitfall, but Dizzy's games are worth remembering and given the paltry sums involved here it's worth it simply to hear the glorious '90s style soundtrack.

Younger gamers may wonder what all the fuss is about, but they may also wonder why other games haven't tried such an unusual mix of genres and embraced such a winning sense of humour.

In Short: A loving update of what is still a genuinely fun and innovative genre mash-up, as well as a fascinating glimpse at the glory days of British gaming.

Pros: The updated visuals and music are pitch perfect, with the same wry sense of humour and some genuinely clever puzzles. Very cheap.

Cons: The platforming was always overly fussy and it seems even more so now with touch controls. Some puzzles can seem very random.

Score: 8/10

Formats: iOS (iPod touch reviewed) and Android
Price: £1.49
Publisher: Codemasters
Developer: DNA Interactive
Release Date: 9th December 2011
Age Rating: 3

There's an interview with the makers here.

[El Jackal]

Just had a quick search for this on the app store and having found that it costs £1.49, I am no longer interested for now.. call me cheap if you will, but I refuse to pay more than 69p for a game on what should be primarily a phone and not a console.

[The Headliner]

I agree with you that it should be on a console (or a PSP/3DS at least), but it's amazing how people's perception of value changes like that.

[El Jackal]

I know what you mean, £1.49 is nothing really.. however if it was £1.49 on a disc in store I'd snap it up. But again, to me, that's down to the platform more than anything.. if it were on XLA then it'd be worth the £1.49 to me. Since it's on my phone, I don't really fancy spending that much 

[The Headliner]

And yet your phone is with you everywhere you go, so more potential opportunities to play the game.

I'm the same though, it takes a very special mobile game for me to spend anything, let alone break the pound barrier. And it has to be a more mobile-friendly game than Dizzy. Jewel Quest III: World Adventure was worth every penny, but I wouldn't sit and play that on a console.

[El Jackal]

I think that's the problem though, it's with me everywhere I go because I use it a lot already for texting and Facebook. Yet if I emerge myself in a game then I have to close the game to access text messages or Facebook if I need to. Although with the iPhone 4 you can minimise programs and apps instead of having to close them, so potentially I could play games a lot more on this new phone.

[Lawman]

i have found that nostalgia is not a caring loving friend who keeps cherished memories alive and well
Nostalgia is a spiteful whore who takes something pleasant and changes it in your mind, nudging it to be bigger and better than you ever experienced first hand.

I recently fixed an old Ps2 that i'd salvaged from a "to go in the bin" pile in my workplace, cleaned it up and after a quick search of the local gamestations bargain bin got a few classic games that i had loved, now some games (god of war, metal gear, shadow of the collossus) i've rediscovered in the ps3 HD collection and look great. and even borrowed vice city and san andreas, which were fun if graphically inferior to the ps3

But then i got a game i logged a lot of time in, gta3
it was .......lacking, nostalgia has made me expect a game visually and entertainingly as good as any i own on todays consoles, and it wasn't.

I do remember dizzy as a game i disliked, and this attempt to cash in on nostalgia is doomed to fail, some games had thier time, robocod was crap, dizzy was crap! doom granted was fun at the time but by some of todays game standards its not worthy of space on my smartphon.
Rereleasing dizzy was like bringing back hogan after the whole NWO thing in the wwe, nostalgia makes you smile for a while, but once the shimmer stops blinding you , all you're left whith is something that pales in comparison to what calibre of games we have today!

[The Headliner]

If you never liked Dizzy in the first place then where does nostalgia come into anything? They've simply remade a game you had no desire to play, like me passing up a Rampart remake.